I just went through the Seirawan v. Ivanchuk game in the McDonald book The Art of Logical Thinking and I think it is one of the best in the book. It is a KID gone really bad for Black, over in 22 moves!

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I just lost a 45/45 game to a 1700 + 10 year old. I played well, and it was extremely even through most of it, but I lost to a miscalculation in the late middlegame (24). I really didn't think about prophylactic moves, just tactics, and it cost me. Hopefully lessened learned!

Anyone know the KID?

I have been avoiding this opening for awhile, putting time into improving my tactics. More than any other opening that I play as White, this one seemed to be the most complex. I opted for the Four Pawns attack (which seemed easy to remember) or KIA (which always secured a plausible game). It seems like a few years ago the Bayonet variation (1. d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 ) became viewed best for White at the professional level, and soon after scores of amateurs started using it. Of all the books I own and have checked out of my local library, not one had that variation except Batsford Chess Openings, and that book was over my head. I have to questions that I am puzzling through. First, Black's option of 7...Nd7 would appear to change the situation, avoiding that line. With 7...Nd7 Black is no longer losing a tempo to the d5 push, yet the move does not seem as popular according to my database. I am guessing that the advantage of 7...Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 is that it supports the f5 push? My second question is about other lines where White starts improvising out of book but then throws in the b4 early, should Black be considering ...a5 early or other ideas as prevention?edit: I have been directed to read Bronstein's Zurich 1953. I imagine 350 pages gone through 7 circles would serve as a nice introduction...

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Good Game

I finally got my Circles pay off in a standard game! I was extra focused on every threat on every move, both mine and my opponents, which helped. Too many times in the past I have been surprised by my opponents response. Anyway, t was nice to win and play well, and this may be my best of the year :).My opponent played the opening ok (he lost a tempo) and then he got into an early attack before castling. I defended really well, countered with 12...d5, then White's position fell apart and he resigned, down 3 pawns in a passive position. I actually was hazy on his response of 13. d4, but as much as I could calculate 12...d5 was the best, especially in view of his wing attack potential.

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Back to normal mistakes... I have been not playing blitz very well, probably it doesn't matter :). Here my opponent had a good move:

Black to Move

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..

..

..

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Bxb4! and White cannot recapture without getting forked with discovery with axb4 Nxb4.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Tasc Chess Tutor Errata

First I would like to say thanks to Sancho and Tempo for recommending this program. It was much more of what I needed to study. It does have a few quirks, like occasionally throwing in weak defensive moves for you to feast on. I think it would be better to have 10% more defense problems, and some very basic variation quizzes. The most maddening part was the occasionally mistake of theirs, and a list of them follows.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Call for TCT Glitches

I am in the process of creating a post with everything wrong in TCT. I think some of you found many of the same bugs, but just in case I missed something I would appreciate it if you would add them to the comments of this post.

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I wanted to report in that I have yet to get my standard under control, but I am occasionally putting together really tough 5/12 blitz games. This isn't like the sloppy wins over 1400 + blitz folks, and I hope I can continue to solidify my play.

.Here I missed Nd5! threatening two forks with Nb6 and Nxe7. Nd5 Nxd5 Bxg4 threatens Black's Queen with Black's d5 Knight under the threat of Qxd5 or even exd5, getting a passed pawn. Not taking with Nd5 Re8 leads to Nb6, ensnaring at least a Rook.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

And Chess Marches On...

I have to chuckle. I am reviewing TCT at 100-200 problems per week, and I just got a problem wrong that I got right on the 7th Circle. At this point it seems humorous. I see that I will forever be a student of chess, Circles or not. I find that my review focus is more like a real game, taking the time that I need and not rushing. I find that solving 10 TCT problems before playing a game is a good warm-up.

I must say I enjoy not be so intense about solving problems. I have already gotten into a more balanced mindset, looking at annotated games, a bit of endgame stuff, and openings every week. Speaking of openings, after getting the suggestion from Dr. Munky, I looked into the Cunningham defense in the King's Gambit Accepted. I think it is a sharp and intriguing line, but slightly over my level. I think I will play around with it in blitz and rely on the prosaic 2..Bc5 for standard. I can imagine going into the Cunningham defense when faced with a lower rated opponent for some reason.

I would be curious if anyone else used the Cunningham defense. I imagine Tempo and Takchess would play that style very well.

Monday, July 10, 2006

Done! Circle 7 Step 5 Complete

At last. I finished with 93% which just tells me more review is needed *roll eyes*.

What now? Probably a brief rest, and then I hope to keep my chess studies going, albeit in a more balanced format with opening and endgame material. I actually feel like the new information I have taken in from TCT is more knowledge rather than chess ability. Perhaps over time this will shift. I believe TCT was addressed the weakest part of my game, and because of improvements there I hope to someday I hit ICC 1600. Oh, and pull off some combinations :-).

As far as this blog: I don't plan on going away completely, but I do seem to be heading in other directions and already seem to be posting much less. Reading and writing blogs does take time. Anyway, I wanted to say thanks for the encouragement and for reading, and in the words of Pete Tamburro,"Wishing you good chess wherever you may be".

Thursday, July 06, 2006

The Vicissitudes of Amateur Chess

It's all about the mistakes, isn't it? Through a big mistake in the endgame I managed a win in my last 45/45 Team game. My big mistake was on 8...Ng4 not seeing my opponent's natural protection response of 9. d4. Remember how your not moving your pawns twice in the opening? Well I think this qualifies as an exception ;-). I went down fighting until his big mistake on 37. There Rc3 would have sealed the win.